Intentions to Marry, 1917 Kaikoura to Rakaia

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840473, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1917 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1917e contains pages 1665-2196, covering districts from Kaikoura to Rakaia

Page 1705

District of Ahaura Quarter ending 30 June 1917 Registrar G. C. Rickard

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

24 April 1917

Charles Augustus Green
Mary Bridget Birlane

Charles Augustus Green
Mary Bridget Brislane
💍 1917/4063

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

25
23

Blackball
Blackball

2 1/2 years
8 months

In the Roman Catholic Presbytery at Ahaura

3311

24 April 1917

Rev. Father Hanrahan, Roman Catholic Priest, Ahaura

No	31
Date of Notice	24 April 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Augustus Green	Mary Bridget Birlane
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Augustus Green	Mary Bridget Brislane
	💍 1917/4063
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Blackball	Blackball
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	8 months
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Presbytery at Ahaura
Folio	3311
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Hanrahan, Roman Catholic Priest, Ahaura

28 April 1917

Archibald Colville
Hannah Gosling (m.n. Lyons)

Archibald Colville
Hannah Gosling
💍 1917/3768

Widower 15/8/13
Widow 12/7/14

Miner
Domestic Duties

43
38

Nelson Creek
Nelson Creek

3 years
10 years

In the private home of Mr Gosling at Nelson Creek

2987

28 April 1917

Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Anglican Minister, Ahaura

No	32
Date of Notice	28 April 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Colville	Hannah Gosling (m.n. Lyons)
BDM Match (76%)	Archibald Colville	Hannah Gosling
	💍 1917/3768
Condition	Widower 15/8/13	Widow 12/7/14
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	43	38
Dwelling Place	Nelson Creek	Nelson Creek
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the private home of Mr Gosling at Nelson Creek
Folio	2987
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Anglican Minister, Ahaura

4 May 1917

Arthur Robert Blocksage
Alice Jane Leitch

Arthur Robert Blocksage
Alice Jane Leitch
💍 1917/4064

Bachelor
Spinster

Biograph Operator
Domestic

21
19

Blackball
Blackball

5 days
19 years

In the Anglican Church at Blackball

3642

William Leitch, Father of A. J. Leitch

4 May 1917

Rev. Archdeacon Yorke, Anglican Minister, Greymouth

No	33
Date of Notice	4 May 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Robert Blocksage	Alice Jane Leitch
	💍 1917/4064
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Biograph Operator	Domestic
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Blackball	Blackball
Length of Residence	5 days	19 years
Marriage Place	In the Anglican Church at Blackball
Folio	3642
Consent	William Leitch, Father of A. J. Leitch
Date of Certificate	4 May 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archdeacon Yorke, Anglican Minister, Greymouth

11 May 1917

Uriah John Mettrick
Tonga Hilda Theresa Wright

Uriah John Mettrick
Inga Hilda Theresa Wright
💍 1917/3790

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker's assistant
Domestic

29
19

Greymouth
Ngahere

3 days
11 years

In the Holy Trinity Church at Greymouth

3036

John Wright, Father of Tonga Hilda Theresa Wright

11 May 1917

Rev. Archdeacon Yorke, Anglican Minister, Greymouth

No	34
Date of Notice	11 May 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Uriah John Mettrick	Tonga Hilda Theresa Wright
BDM Match (96%)	Uriah John Mettrick	Inga Hilda Theresa Wright
	💍 1917/3790
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker's assistant	Domestic
Age	29	19
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Ngahere
Length of Residence	3 days	11 years
Marriage Place	In the Holy Trinity Church at Greymouth
Folio	3036
Consent	John Wright, Father of Tonga Hilda Theresa Wright
Date of Certificate	11 May 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archdeacon Yorke, Anglican Minister, Greymouth

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).